[월간수소경제 이상현 기자] The Korea Institute of Energy Research announced on the 26th that researchers at the Hydrogen Research Center have developed a highly durable nickel-iron double-layer water electrolysis electrode that can stably produce green hydrogen from renewable energy sources.
The Korea Institute of Energy Research expects that this water electrolysis electrode will be able to produce ‘green hydrogen’ more stably as it does not deteriorate in performance even with inconsistent renewable energy power such as solar and wind power.
It is evaluated that the company has developed a water electrolysis device that is highly resistant to volatility in conjunction with renewable energy.
Water electrolysis decomposes water and causes hydrogen and oxygen generation reactions to occur at the same time, but the problem is that the overall reaction speed is adjusted to the slow oxygen generation reaction. There is also the problem that the volatility of renewable energy causes a rapid increase in voltage in the water electrolysis device, easily damaging the electrodes and deteriorating overall performance. This is why it is necessary to develop water electrolysis electrodes that are active and durable.
To overcome this, the research team developed a water electrolysis electrode that does not deteriorate in performance despite rapid fluctuations in renewable energy by simply controlling the iron ion content of the nickel-iron double layer hydroxide electrode, which is highly active in the oxygen evolution reaction.
As a result of confirmation through computational science, structural stability was maximized when the content of iron ions constituting the double layer structure was 40% or more. However, the theoretical maximum content is around 25%, so it is difficult to implement a structure with a content of more than 40% through general catalyst material synthesis.
The research team used a corrosion method of iron materials to create a nickel-iron electrode containing a high concentration of iron ions of more than 40%. When an iron substrate is immersed in a solution of nickel divalent ions and oxygen is supplied, iron divalent and trivalent ions are released through a corrosion reaction and hydroxide ions are simultaneously generated. By repeating the process in which the ions generated in this way meet and grow a nickel-iron double layer hydroxide, conditions were found to maintain a high iron ion concentration, and the team succeeded in developing an electrode with a high concentration of iron ions of 46%.
The developed electrode is capable of stable operation without performance degradation even during rapid start-stop repetitive operation for 12 hours, securing excellent dynamic operation durability compared to general nickel-iron electrodes.
Dr. Minjoong Kim of the Hydrogen Research Center said, “The greatest significance of this research was that we designed the electrode material structure and discovered an electrode manufacturing technology that can implement it through continued research from previous research and the use of computational science.” He added, “The durability of water electrolysis electrodes is greatly improved.” “Enhancement technology is one of the key technologies for producing green hydrogen from renewable energy, so it needs more attention and support,” he emphasized.
The research results were published in the international academic journal ‘Advanced Energy Materials’. Collaboration to commercialize this technology is also underway.
2023-10-26 08:30:19
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